IBM has announced that it will establish a new Big Data and Business Analytics Center of Competence in Athens, Greece advancing its ability to deliver Big Data and Business Analytics technical and consulting capabilities in the region, drawing on an emerging generation of highly skilled local expertise.
The new center will help companies to better leverage analytics and cognitive computing capabilities, improving business operations and enhancing their competitiveness in the global marketplace.

The new Center will lead Big Data and Business Analytics client engagements in the region, working closely with IBM's global network of Business Analytics Centers in Berlin, Beijing, Dallas, London, New York, Tokyo, Washington and Zurich.

Operating within IBM Greece's Services business, the Center of Competence team will provide clients with world-class expertise based on:

IBM Research, which dedicates two-thirds of its work to Big Data, Analytics and the fast-emerging field of Cognitive Computing

the combined intellectual capital of IBM's more than 30 Big Data and Business Analytics acquisitions over the past five years

collaboration with 6,000 industry partners at a global level that work with IBM to help clients capitalize on Big Data

insights from thousands of successful client engagements worldwide.

"We believe that Big Data, Business Analytics and Cognitive Computing have a crucial role to play as enablers and as a source of competitive advantage for the Greek economy," said Spyros Poulidas, General Manager, IBM Greece & Cyprus. "At IBM, we see Big Data as the next new natural resource that provides the basis for developing solutions, which offer not only business advantage, but also the platform to drive Greece's competitiveness in the global marketplace."

"By partnering with IBM and leveraging IBM's strong business analytics capabilities in Greece, Alpha Bank is gaining better insight into the areas in which the Bank operates, from retail banking to financial reporting, risk assessment, compliance and governance," said Efstathios Kakogiannis, Executive General Manager Information Technology and Operations, Alpha Bank. "This insight enhances our ability to better serve our customers, measure our performance and client satisfaction levels, as well as provide new services."

Academia & Research Involvement
Furthering its focus on Big Data and Analytics in Greece, IBM is also collaborating with Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB) to provide lectures, case studies and workshops on Big Data and Business Analytics. In following weeks, IBM will provide guest lectures on Marketing Analytics as part of the University's year-long Certification Program in Business Analytics. IBM will also collaborate with AUEB in the creation of the first national Postgraduate Degree in Business Analytics, to be launched this September.

In addition, IBM will co-operate with the University of Piraeus on the development and design of hands-on practical sessions in Business Intelligence and Business Analytics modules of MBA programs. IBM experts will be involved by delivering practical training in order to solve business specific problems, using IBM's state of the art tools, as part of the University's MBA courses.

IBM works in several EU-funded R&D projects with universities such as the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, the Centre of Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), the Foundation for Research, Technology Hellas (FORTH), and the National Technical University of Athens and the Athens University of Economics and Business.

Academic partnerships are part of a multitude of initiatives IBM has instituted worldwide to help narrow the skills gap between the millions of Big Data and Analytics jobs being created and the number of scientists and engineers, who have the education and hands-on experience to fill them.
IBM is partnering with more than 1,000 universities across the globe to develop curriculum that reflects the mix of business, technical and problem-solving skills that is necessary to prepare students for Big Data and Analytics careers, across all industries.

IBM has established the world's deepest portfolio of Big Data and Analytics technology that spans research and development, solutions and software. IBM has invested $24 billion to build its capabilities in Big Data and Analytics, through R&D and more than 30 acquisitions. Today, more than 15,000 analytics consultants, 6,000 industry solution business partners, and 4,000 IBM mathematicians and are helping clients use Big Data to transform their organizations.